Illusion
by Withoutatracelover996
Summary: When all she knows is called into question, Kate Beckett has to fight to find out what really happened to Richard Castle. With her colleagues and friends against her every step of the way, stepping into Castle's mind is the only way to find him... (There WILL be Caskett-y goodness in this story)
1. Chapter 1

Kate leaned back, breathing heavily. The bed sheets were warm and crumpled under her body, swishing quietly every time she shifted position. Castle lay next to her, his chest heaving with each breath. His fingers were tangled in her unruly mess of hair, and she moaned quietly as he massaged the base of her scalp. She pushed herself further into him, feeling the curve of his body perfectly align with hers.

"That was -"

"Shh," Kate hushed. She brushed her fingers on his soft lips and felt his teeth gently rub up against the tip of her index finger, applying the slightest amount of pressure.

Sleep was slowly creeping in, and Kate checked the time on the bedside clock. It read 12:30am. She let her eyes slip shut as the urge to dream pressed on the finite edges of her consciousness.

"Hey," Castle mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"What do you think about me..." Castle paused, losing his confidence.

"What?" Kate asked, lazily opening her eyes to meet his anxious blue ones.

"What would you say about me - going away for a little while?" Castle tentatively asked.

Kate sat up. "What do you mean?" she asked, all traces of sleep now gone.

"I mean... Well I was just thinking..." Castle stuttered.

"What?" Kate pushed impatiently.

"Never mind," Castle quietly brushed it off, his eyes no longer looking at hers.

"Are you unhappy?" Kate asked, her normally strong tone disintegrated as she bit her lip.

"No!" Castle responded instantly, "I just... I got an opportunity to go on a research trip to Brazil for the next Derrick Storm novel. That's all."

Kate stared at him, her brow furrowed. She had a sinking suspicion that he was lying to her. A knot was slowly forming in her stomach as she watched him roll away from her.

"I think that would be great," Kate said quietly.

Castle turned back over, "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"A research trip? No. Of course not."

"You just sounded so upset..."

"Well you made it sound like you weren't coming back."

Castle wrapped his arms around her, his skin warm on hers. "I would never abandon you," he whispered into her hair.

"I'm not worried about being abandoned," she paused, "But you do have some of my stuff at your house that I don't think I'd get back if you decided to suddenly up and leave like that," Kate smiled. She was trying to joke, but her words somehow came out sounding sad.

Castle kissed her forehead, "You have a key."

"Details..." Kate whispered.

Castle laughed silently into her hair, the sudden burst of air parting the strands covering the back of her head.

"Goodnight, Rick," she whispered.

"Mm," Castle mumbled quietly into her ear. "Goodnight."

Letting his warm breath on the nape of her neck soothe her, Kate let some relaxation into her aching shoulders and sighed deeply. Only moments later, sleep washed over her and whisked her away.

* * *

The alarm clock jerked Kate out of her slumber. Awakening with a groan, she reached out with a clumsy arm, aiming for the snooze button. In her thrashing, a forgotten glass of water was knocked over, smashing onto the ground.

"Shit," Kate cursed in a gravelly, still-sleeping tone. Opening her bleary eyes, she knelt down to look at the scattered fragments of glass now littering her hardwood floor.

Groaning, Kate fell back onto her bed, squirming in the now uncomfortable sheets that seemed too hot and too cold all at once. The alarm rang again, it's disruptive, angry blare piercing the inside of Kate's skull until she forfeited her allotted ten extra minutes of sleep. Slamming her fingers on the snooze button, she rolled over.

"You're awfully quiet this -" she started.

Kate stopped when she saw Castle's empty side of the bed. Frowning, she turned back to her nightstand, opening the first drawer and rooting around for her cell phone. Feeling the sleek texture under her fingers, she grabbed it and lifted it out from under her Glock. Speed dialling Castle's number, she grinned when she saw that he had broken into her phone again.

The number rang, calling 'The Hottest Man Alive (You know it, baby)'. Kate swung her legs off of the bed, mindful of the shards of glass laying in wait. The phone continued to ring as Kate made her way into the kitchen, grabbing her broom from the small slit between the refrigerator and the stove. Glancing at the screen, Kate knitted her eyebrows as the screen read, 'dialling'. She breathed a small sigh of relief when the line picked up.

"What took you so -"

"We're sorry, but the number you have dialled is out of service. Please hang up, and try your call again," a mechanical female voice interrupted her.

Kate's heart skipped a beat. The conversation from the night before forced itself into her mind. She shoved down the panic creeping into her chest, hanging up the phone and pressing redial.

After thirty seconds, she was greeted with the same message.

Convincing herself that he was probably just in an elevator somewhere, Kate put him out of her mind and began to get ready for work.

Almost an hour later, she had successfully showered, dressed and applied makeup; quite the feat for her at seven in the morning. But she had been nervous, the lack of communication with Castle eating at her nerves and preventing her from dawdling. She stood by the door, ready to go. Reaching into her pocket, she considered ending her anxiety now by calling him again.

No. She reprimanded herself. You'll see him in fifteen minutes.

With that in mind, she left her apartment, bolting the door behind her.

* * *

Kate tapped her foot nervously, anxious for the elevator to reach the fifth floor. She had driven like a madwoman to arrive at the station in a record-breaking seven minutes. She glanced at the elevator's digital floor counter once again, and sighed in exasperation as it slowed to a halt at the third floor.

A detective entered, and Kate smiled a tight 'hello'. She held back from violently pressing the 'door-close' button once the detective had cleared the entrance. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was 7:12. Castle had been showing up at 7:30 in the morning for years, never forgetting to let her know if he was going to be late. Checking her phone, she noted that she hadn't missed any calls. He should be on time today.

Finally, the elevator stopped at the fifth floor and Beckett shoved past the heavyset detective to get out.

"Hey," Esposito greeted Beckett as she exited the elevator.

Kate looked around distractedly, craning her neck past Esposito as she walked over to her desk.

Arriving in front of the currently blank murder board, she whipped around. "Have you seen Castle?"

Esposito stopped, almost running into her. He gave her a funny look.

"Who?"

Kate froze. "Castle." Receiving a blank stare from Esposito, she tried again, "Richard Castle? What is this, some kind of joke?"

Esposito squinted at Kate, "Are you alright?"

Kate's features hardened, "This isn't funny, Esposito. I've been trying to reach him all morning."

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," Javier shrugged.

Kate gave him her coldest glare and stalked over to Ryan's desk. Grabbing the back of his chair, she spun him around. "Have you seen Castle?"

"Um," Ryan furrowed his brow, "Like a White Castle? Cause it's not even eight o'clock so I'm not really up for a burger..." he trailed off as he saw a slew of emotions run across Beckett's face.

"Ok," she struggled to remain calm. "Ha, ha. You've had your fun."

"Beckett," Esposito walked up to her. "We don't have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about the man who's worked here with us for almost five years!" Kate shouted. She watched as people in the precinct turned their heads to stare. Running her fingers through her hair, she pulled out her cell phone again. Flipping through her photos, she found one of Castle and showed it to the boys.

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other, and looked back at the photo.

"Never seen that guy before," Ryan shrugged.

Kate resisted the urge to scream at them. She studied their faces, hunting for any signs of deception. Not finding anything but a sickly concern, Kate turned away from them. This time, they had gone too far with their stupid pranks.

Beckett blew into Captain Gates' office without a second thought.

"Detective Beckett, what do you think you're doing?" Gates asked, the mayor sitting in front of her desk.

"Sorry, sir," Beckett apologized. "But I need to know if you've heard from Castle?"

"I don't know what you're playing at, Detective; but I'm in a very important meeting and I need you to leave. Now," Gates said in a cold, don't-make-me-tell-you-again tone.

"Mayor Weldon, please. Do you know if Richard Castle was planning some kind of a trip? Maybe he mentioned something at one of your poker games?" Kate grasped at straws, desperation painfully apparent in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Detective. I don't know a Richard Castle."

And just like that, Kate's world fell apart.

* * *

_A/N: This story is very experimental, as I've never done one quite like it. So, this is the only time I'm going to ask my readers to please review and let me know what you think. I don't want to invest my time in a story no one is going to read, as I'm sure you can appreciate! Thank you for your support. _


	2. Chapter 2

"All right, all right. I'm coming!" Castle called out as the person at his door violently rapped their knuckles against the frame. He gripped the cool metal handle in his hand and twisted, opening the door to a beautiful woman standing just over the threshold.

"Castle!" she threw her arms around his neck and let the tears welling in her eyes to spill out onto his shoulder. "Thank God."

"Kate," Castle's brow creased as he returned her hug, feeling her agile body threaten to shake in his grasp, "What's the matter? Did something happen?"

Finally unravelling from his embrace, Kate stood in front of Castle, refusing to let go of his hands. "God, Castle, I don't know what the hell's going on but no one at the Precinct knows who you are and I couldn't reach you all morning and why the hell didn't you answer my phone calls?" Kate asked, the last part of her rant coming out as an accusation.

"Hey, hey," Castle said, his mind reeling from the information Kate had just given him. "Slow down. I left my phone in my car, there's no service in the parking garage."

"What about everyone at the Precinct? Esposito and Ryan might have just been joking around but Castle, the Mayor was there and he said he'd never heard of you." Kate's previously frantic tone was now strong. Calculating. However, she allowed herself to stroke Castle's hands; an easy way to tell that she was still relatively shaken up. Kate broke her focus to look up at Castle. She searched his eyes for answers and was startled to find an unsettling iciness slowly spreading over them.

"That can't be right," Castle said, his voice unnaturally low and menacing.

Kate shook her head, "It must have just been some elaborate joke."

"You really think that Esposito and Ryan would keep it up even after it was clear that you were upset?"

Kate pursed her lips and slowly rubbed her index finger along the underside of her chin. She pulled her hand away, slapping it back down to her side, "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

Castle was clearly not paying attention to her as he scanned his apartment. Narrowing his eyes, something caught his attention.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

Castle broke away from her, "I have to go get something. Wait here."

Kate was about to protest, but Castle had already disappeared into his bedroom. She chewed her lip nervously before settling on the couch. Kneading her fingers together, her brain worked over every possibility for the madness encroaching in on her life.

A few moments later, Kate jerked her head up. Something was wrong. The tiny hairs on the back of Kate's neck rose in silent warning. Castle had been gone for too long. Beckett stood on shaky feet, her hand gripping the Glock holstered to her hip. Silently unfastening the strip of faux-leather holding it in, she pulled the gun out. The click of the safety being released sounded much louder than usual in the silent apartment, echoing through the living room. She crept forward, turning the corner into Castle's room where she was met with nothing but the breeze coming from an open window.

Foolishly failing to clear the bedroom, Kate raced over to check if he had gone down the fire escape. The wind buffeted her hair, and the sounds of the city reached her ears in a distant cry.

That eerie feeling washed over her again as Kate drew herself back into the apartment. She turned, reaching into her pocket for her cell phone when something violently crashed into her temple, sending her crumpling to the ground.

* * *

The man shook his head, cursing under his breath as he gathered the unconscious woman into his arms. He replaced her gun and cell phone into the correct holster and pocket before pulling out his own mobile device. Laying her down on the bed, he shifted the phone from his shoulder to his right hand.

"214968," the man barked. Waiting to connect, he took out Kate's badge, analyzing the number. The person on the other line answered.

"Yes, this is 214968. Sir, I'm afraid we have a problem."

* * *

Kate blinked her eyes open, a heavy haze fogging up the corners of her mind. She smelled the harsh scent of antiseptic and tried wrinkling her nose but found most of her face to be numb.

"Kate?"

Beckett heard Lanie's voice through her ringing ears and tried to turn her head but stopped immediately as a white hot flash of pain burst into her skull.

"Don't do that, Kate," Lanie stood from her chair and stood beside her friend, brushing a few loose hairs off of Kate's forehead. "You're going to have the mother of all headaches for the next few hours."

"Castle," Kate spoke; her dry, cracked throat making it difficult to talk.

"Oh, honey," Lanie soothed, "They said you'd hit your head but I didn't think it was this bad..."

Kate looked up, "Castle?"

"You've been asking for this 'Castle' person for hours, Kate. Who is he? You haven't been holding out on me have you?" Lanie tried to joke.

Kate's heart monitor began beeping faster and faster, "Phone, give me my phone."

Lanie dug around in the bucket of Kate's belongings a nurse had dropped off earlier. Pulling out Beckett's phone, Lanie handed it to her.

Fumbling with the lock screen, Kate's blurry vision was making it difficult for her to manage the small touch screen. Eventually making it to her contacts screen, Kate searched for Castle's name. Scrolling through, she couldn't find it. Cursing her eyes, Kate looked again. And again.

Her muddled brain finally registered that she had Castle's number memorized. Typing in the numbers, she painstakingly held the phone up to her ear.

"We're sorry, but the number you have dialled -"

Kate jerked the phone away from her ear, causing another rush of pain to shoot through her upper spine and into her head. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she forced herself to calm down. She needed a clear head to work through the past... How long had it been?

"What happened?" she asked Lanie.

"Honey, we don't know. Someone dropped you off here an hour ago," Lanie explained.

Kate frowned, her memory failing her.

"We were hoping that once you woke up, you could tell us what happened," Lanie reached forward to check under Kate's bandage. "It looks like a gun-wound. Do you remember anything about what happened?"

Images began flashing back in startling clarity. Castle. The open window. The empty fire escape. Black shoes. White light. Darkness.

"Castle," she breathed. Kate sat up, her head spinning at the sudden movement. Pain exploded behind her eye sockets as she tore at the wires adhered to her skin.

"Woah, woah!" Lanie stood up, pushing Beckett back down. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Kate struggled to sit up again, "You're not listening to me!" she shouted angrily. "Send Esposito and Ryan to 501-749, 10th Avenue and tell them to find Castle, God _damn it_!"

"Nurse!" Lanie called, doing her best to hold Kate's struggling form down on the hospital bed.

The nurse rushed in, wielding a large syringe.

"No, you have to listen to me!" Kate pleaded, feeling her control slipping wildly.

The nurse inserted the syringe into Kate's IV.

"Don't worry, shh," Lanie hushed, stroking her friend's hair.

Kate could feel the drugs attacking her system and in that moment, she had never hated Lanie more. "Castle," she forced, the world around her rapidly spinning towards the dark corners of her vision. The last thing she heard before the sedative won her over was Lanie's concerned voice, "Castle doesn't exist, Kate. He isn't real. Sleep now, and don't worry. It'll all be over soon."

* * *

Castle's speedometer raced at over 80 miles an hour. He gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, his face frozen in a permanent frown. He glanced at his watch before pressing harder on the gas.

What the hell had he gotten himself into?

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad this story is showing some interest. _

_Feel free to leave any thoughts. If not, happy reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

Castle pulled up to his destination, the tires on his rented pickup truck crunching on the loose gravel driveway.

He felt sick to his stomach as he stepped out of the car. Opening the side door and reaching into the backseat, Castle grabbed a black knapsack. He slung it over his shoulder and started the long trek to his destination.

* * *

Kate loved the feeling of the couch cushions resting under her body. Her back ached after laying in a hospital bed for the past 24 hours. Grabbing the glass of water resting on her coffee table, she took a long drink. The synthetic taste of painkillers still coated the inside of her mouth, refusing to dissipate even after she had vigorously scrubbed at it with a toothpaste.

Her head throbbed, and Kate was left feeling scatterbrained. However, there was one thing was crystal clear in her mind. Richard Castle.

She had gone over it a hundred times, and it was just not possible. Forcing herself to think back to the last few moments in Castle's apartment, Kate shut her eyes and tried to concentrate.

The man in the apartment was tall, and thick. He smelled crisp, like a freshly laundered suit. Official. CIA? No. His shoes weren't standardized. Maybe FBI. Possibly just a business man. High-end contract killer? No. She was still alive. The wound was meant to injure, not kill.

"God," Kate ran her fingers through her hair, wincing as a strand pulled at the bloody bandage resting along her hairline.

She picked up the phone and dialled Castle's phone number again, only to be met with the same message as all the other times before.

Standing up, Kate fought through a wave of standard, concussion-grade dizziness. Grabbing her badge and gun, she made her way out of the apartment. She was a detective, and there was no way in hell she was going down without a fight.

* * *

"Castle's into something bad," Esposito whispered to Ryan.

"I know. But what are we supposed to do about it? He disappeared before we could issue a detail," Ryan murmured.

"I don't like this," Esposito shifted his gaze to the buzzing precinct before him.

"We should tell Beckett," Ryan said.

"That's exactly what Castle told us not to do," Esposito hissed. "Look, man. Whatever the hell Castle is into, she can't be a part of it."

"This is crazy. Trying to convince her that Castle was never around is impossible. No matter how many people we get to try and convince her, it won't work. It's not working."

"It has to work. Castle said they'd kill her."

"Javi," Ryan moved in closer so as not to be overheard. "We need her in on this."

"No." Esposito turned away from Ryan. "We don't."

* * *

Castle pulled out his phone. His screensaver popped up, and Kate Beckett's smiling face was upon him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he fought the emotional pain crashing down on him.

_Do it for Kate. Do it for Kate. Do it for Kate._

He repeated the mantra to himself over and over as he continued to walk. The cold air stung his skin, drying out his eyes the backs of his hands. He rubbed them together, trying to generate some heat.

Castle's chest was aching. He hated this. Hated what he was doing to her.

Another wave of pain crushed into his abdomen. He fell to his knees, dropping the backpack into the snow slowly building up around him. He squeezed his eyes shut and shouted into the wind. _I love you, Kate. I'm so, so sorry._

Each word sounded loud and clear until the icy breeze picked them up and carried them far, far away.

Night fell over Castle's shaking figure. He couldn't pull himself up from the snow. The cold seeping into his bones served as a punishment for what he had done. He couldn't write his way out of this one. He was going to have to pay a price, no matter how high.

* * *

Kate Beckett picked the lock on Castle's apartment door. Pushing past the tape CSU had hung, she found the light switch in the front hall and flicked it on. Tiny yellow signs labelled A, B, and C littered the floor. Dust covered every inch of the apartment, highlighting hundreds of thousands of fingerprints. Kate let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Seeing his apartment like this was overwhelming.

Running her hand over his countertop, memories came flooding back to her. How far they had come from that first morning after her apartment had burned down. Kate smiled as she recalled an evening last week when he had retold the story to some friends of hers for the thousandth time. He was so proud of his 'superhuman strength and bravery'.

Making her way to the bedroom, she forced her mind back on the task at hand. Checking the closet, she noted the clothes that were pushed out of the way; apparently to make an adequate hiding space for the man with the black shoes. Kate turned around and winced at the blood spatter sitting just in front of the window. Subconsciously touching the bandage on her head, she inhaled sharply.

A far-off siren pulled Kate's attention to the window. Forcing it open, the tape sealing it shut cracked under her fingernails. A gust of cold air flew into her face, shaking the fire escape attached to the side of the building.

Carefully, Kate manoeuvred herself through the open window and out onto the fire escape. Grasping onto the handle, flakes of red paint peeled off and stuck to her warm skin. Waiting until the second hand on her watch reached twelve, Kate clattered down the ladders as fast as she could, jumping off of the landing to fall onto the concrete alleyway below her. Checking her watch, she counted forty-six seconds. And she was wearing heels. Castle could have easily made it down the fire escape and out of the alleyway while she was waiting in the living room.

But why leave the window open? Castle would have known that that would have been the first place she would have checked. Kate frowned. Pushing the thought out of her mind, she followed the alleyway. An orange neon sign caught her attention, _PARKING_. Making her way down the street, steam enveloped her from a nearby laundromat. A clattering beside her made her jump. She pulled her gun and walked through the steam. "NYPD," she announced. A cat leaped down from an open garbage bin in front of her, meowing in fright.

Kate almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Holstering her weapon, she continued towards the parking garage that serviced Castle's building. She shivered, her thin jacket not a good insulator against the cold winter temperature.

Beckett ducked into the underground garage, waving at the on-duty guard. The dark-skinned man gave her a dazzling smile and greeted her warmly. Kate returned his greeting, remembering the time he had let Castle and her into the building the time Rick had gotten drunk and forgotten his ID card at the restaurant.

"I'm sorry Miss Beckett," the guard frowned, "Mr. Castle hasn't signed out any cars for a few days now."

Kate smiled, "That's ok, I just wanted to make sure. I left my wallet in his car, is there any way you could let me in? I have the house and car keys, but no ID card."

"Of course," the guard grinned. "With a pretty smile like yours, you don't need ID, Miss Beckett."

"Thanks, Carl," Kate ducked under the striped arm that barred cars from entering without checking in.

Walking down the concrete ramp, Kate scanned the garage. Spotting Castle's car in the usual spot, she walked over to it. A flash of white paper in the dashboard caught her eye. Rushing over, she snatched it from under the windshield wiper. She unfolded it with shaky hands, her eyes devouring the words on the hastily written note.

_Kate,_

_I'm sorry. _

_- Rick_

Her heart collapsed in disappointment.

Dropping the paper, Kate watched as it fluttered to the ground. She turned to leave, a single tear dripping down her face. She wiped at it angrily, before whipping around and grabbing the paper up off of the floor. She scrunched it into a tight ball, not able to believe that Castle had left her so coldheartedly. All this time she had been alone and worried, and he had gone voluntarily. Hardly able to see through the welled up tears in her eyes, Kate bit her tongue in frustration. Blinking away the moisture, Kate shoved the balled up note into her pocket.

She had failed to notice the letters carefully inscribed on that small piece of paper.

They were almost undetectable.

Almost.

* * *

_A/N: Just so you know, I had to bring Ryan and Esposito back into the story and I had totally tied myself into a story knot with how things were going. So I know that it might seem totally nuts with them telling Beckett that Castle never existed. I apologize for that weak point in the story. I had to bring them back in, and there was no way I could have kept going with Castle being 'erased' from everyone's memories realistically._

_The good news is, now we can continue on with the story without that gaping hole in the plot!  
_

_Feel free to review if you're enjoying the story. If not, happy reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

"Good evening, Mr. Castle. I'm glad you finally made it," a dark shadow spat from the corner of a dimly lit, unfurnished office building.

"Here," Castle dumped the backpack he had been carrying unceremoniously onto the ground. "Are we done?"

"Mr. Castle, that's only half of the deal," the man's tone betrayed his unsightly grin.

"What do you mean?" Castle asked angrily. "You told me to bring the files and the money, and we'd be through. You'd leave my family alone."

"Tsk, tsk, Mr. Castle. You know we would never harm your mother or that beautiful daughter of yours. Why drag them into this, purely to detract attention from Detective Beckett?"

"She is my family," Castle seethed.

"Then you'll want to complete the other half of the deal. In her best interest, of course."

Castle could hear the man moving around, his feet scuffing on the concrete floor. A bang sounded no more than four feet from Castle, causing him to jump. A light flicked on, revealing the man behind the sinister voice.

"You," Castle's rage bubbled up. He balled up his fists, striding forward when he felt the cold steel of a gun pressed against his back.

"If you know what's good for you, Mr. Castle, I would suggest dropping the bravado. Please," the man gestured, "Sit down. Let's talk about what's going to happen next."

* * *

Kate downed the last drop of wine from her glass, wincing as the liquid burned her dry throat. She realized she had finished the entire bottle in record time, and her world was slowly beginning to fuzz; far away shapes becoming mere blurs in her vision. Angrily wiping away the tears that had begun to drip from her lids, she violently threw her glass across the room and watched as it shattered against the far wall.

Pulling out the note Castle had left her, she stumbled over to the kitchen to retrieve a lighter from the top drawer in her stand-alone cabinet. Flicking the lighter to life, she stared at the tiny flame fluttering back and forth with the breeze. Kate held the note up to the lighter, staring at it so hard her hands began to shake.

Letting go of the lighter, the note was thrown back into the dark. Kate sunk down along the wall, and began to sob. She held the paper, the edges crumpling where her fingers dug in.

Everything began to sway, and Kate's stomach began to violently disagree with her alcohol consumption. Rushing to the bathroom, she abruptly threw up. After thoroughly emptying the contents of her stomach, Kate sat on the bathroom floor and blew out a shaky sigh. Feeling considerably more sober, Kate pulled herself off of the cold tiles and wandered back over to her liquor cabinet.

Taped to the front of the door was a photo of her dad, taken just after obtaining his one-year chip from AA. She tore it down, not caring that her family's history of alcohol dependence could have been easily passed on to her. Fishing her hand around and hunting for her emergency bottle of vodka, she came across a piece of paper. Sliding it out of the cupboard, she opened it up.

_Kate,_

_I figured you might be upset enough to be rummaging around in here. I cleared out everything but the wine bottles. Read my note again, and this time, look carefully. I'd never leave you alone, Kate._

_Love, always._

_- Rick_

The bastard had stolen her alcohol.

She shredded the note, not stopping until the piece of paper had been reduced to confetti. Brushing her hands off, the pieces fluttered to the ground. Kate grabbed her keys and wallet, needing the trip to the liquor store. Tripping over her own feet, Kate glanced at the keys in her hand, and remembered a moment almost ten years in the past. A little girl struck and killed by a drunk driver. Kate had still been a rookie, but she had offered to break the news to the parents. She figured it would earn her some experience for her future as a homicide detective. It had been a mistake.

Brushing away the memory of the child's shocked and heartbroken mother and father, Kate set down her keys. Her mind was urging her to pay attention to the second half of Castle's note. Clearly, whatever he was trying to communicate was important enough for him to sneak into her apartment and leave follow-up instructions.

Kate grabbed the hopelessly crumpled piece of paper from off of the ground and brought it over to her coffee table. She turned the living room light on, and winced at her head's overwhelming aversion to the brightness. Smoothing out the page, Kate tried to avoid the words written on the note.

A conversation she had had with Castle a few months before drifted into her still foggy mind. Something about a stupid, but effective Castle-esque trick involving letters carved into a piece of paper, only to be revealed with a few squirts of lemon juice.

Making her way over to the kitchen, Kate grabbed the bottle of lemon juice sitting in the door of her fridge. She poured some into a small glass bowl, and ripped a piece of paper towel off of the roll. Disappearing into her room, Kate emerged with a small, white bedside lamp, the cord trailing behind.

After setting up her miniature CSU station, Kate suddenly wished she could call Lanie. Brushing the thought from her mind, she focused in on the task at hand. Carefully dabbing up a few drops of lemon juice, Kate gently brushed them onto the paper.

Nothing.

Huffing in disappointment, Kate picked up the note, wanting to crush it in her fists once again. Staring at the words, she frowned when a small pencil mark caught her eye. In the corner of the paper, a line was visible. She grabbed the note and held it up to the bare bulb of the bedside lamp. A collection of lines was visible on the back and front of the note. They were faded, so light she almost couldn't make them out.

Kate turned the paper back and forth, trying to make sense of the letters when suddenly, the angle of the paper matched up with the marks inscribed on it.

_214968 _

Kate turned it around in her fingers once more, looking for any other words.

"Really, Rick? This is all you're giving me?" Kate murmured, her brow creased in concentration.

She quickly committed the set of numbers to memory, and considered what they might mean. Too short for a phone number, too long for an address. 214968.

Beckett was drawing a blank.

Running through the list of names, she considered who to call for help. Lanie was stubborn. If the medical examiner were hiding something, Kate wouldn't be able to break her. Esposito, maybe. But it would take time.

A lightbulb went off in her mind as the answer to her problems suddenly became clear to her. The weak link.

Ryan.

* * *

_A/N: A couple of things. First, sorry for being slow with this update! In the past week I've moved from Canada to Italy, and just got the Internet working a few days ago. So between packing and unpacking and flights and bus rides etc. etc. I've found it difficult to write. But I'm all settled now and things should be back to normal!_

_Second, and this is important. Since I'm 9 hours ahead (give or take depending on where you guys live), my updates will be at crazy times in the night/early morning if you're residing in the US or Canada. (I've stayed up insanely late to give you guys this update at a normal time today) So if you don't want to hunt for my story way down the list in the evening or whenever you get on FanFiction, I suggest you sign up for the email alerts so that you have an easy link to press and it'll take you right to the updated chapter. However, if you're ok with trying to find it in a long list of other stories that were updated after mine throughout the day, all the best to you!_

___I hope you're all well, and I will try to update shortly as you've all been very patient waiting for this chapter. I look forward to any comments you might have._

_Until next time!_


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